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Microsoft

Windows 11's Beta Testers May Start Seeing Ads for Microsoft Store Apps (engadget.com) 37

Posted by EditorDavid from the shopifying dept.
Engadget warns Windows 11 users that Microsoft is "exploring the idea" of putting ads in their Start menu. Sort of... To be specific, it's looking to place advertisements for apps you can find in the Microsoft Store in the menu's recommended section....

At the moment, Microsoft will only show ads in this version if you're in the US and a Windows Insider in the Beta Channel. You won't be seeing them if you're not a beta tester or if you're using a device managed by an organization. Further, you can disable the advertisements altogether. To do so, just go to Personalization under Settings and then toggle off "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more" in the Start section.

Like any other Microsoft experiment, it may never reach wider rollout, but you may want to remember the aforementioned steps, since the company does have history of incorporating ads into its desktop platforms.
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Windows 11's Beta Testers May Start Seeing Ads for Microsoft Store Apps More

Windows 11's Beta Testers May Start Seeing Ads for Microsoft Store Apps

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  • Enshitification (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Sunday April 14, 2024 @10:37AM (#64393438)

    The enshitification is strong with this one.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pieroxy ( 222434 )

      I realized last week than even in Windows 10, you cannot play Klondike anymore without having to go through pages of ads. My dad plays it from time to time. I was stunned. It looks like an overly ad-loaded website. They are transforming their OS to a website, and a bad one at that !!!

      The only way to play without ads is to pay. For Klondike. Yes, really.

      I've never been happier to have ditched the whole OS 15 years ago. Linux has its own set of challenges, but man, do I prefer those.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rossdee ( 243626 )

        Did you know that the Windows XP version of Solitaire still works in Win 10
        I copied the files cards.dll and sol.exe

        I don't know if it works on win 11

        • You can do that with a lot software from earlier versions. I've seen posts where people are copying the Windows 7 calculator to Windows 10 and 11 too because the calculator "app" is shit.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Askmum ( 1038780 )
            There is a reason I'm still running windows 7. Even with all the "oh no, you shouldn't do that it's not supported" it's still the better option in stead of Windows 10 or 11.

            • I agree. Windows 7 is running my home theater PC and my daily driver PC (which I can dual boot between Windows 7 and Linux). I find myself booted into Linux more and more as I find replacements for software I need.

        • I recommend this one, it's quite good. https://pysolfc.sourceforge.io... [sourceforge.io]

        • It may get to the point people run old Windows full screen in a VM on current Windows :)

  • ...who hasn't turned app recommendations off? I mean this is the feature which installed candy crush on your machine. I mean if *ANYONE* here hasn't turned this feature off as the *FIRST* step of a Windows install seek professional help (that is mental help, not IT help, I assume if you're on Slashdot you know how to computer).

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I use the LTSC build of windows for that reason

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by dfm3 ( 830843 )
      That's all well and good until M$ decides to "helpfully" reenable the feature when you're not looking. They may even sneak it in during an update to some unrelated program by prompting you with some BS about how "Bing has detected that you may not be using optimal settings. Would you like for us to fix that?" with options of YES!!! and a tiny greyed out maybe later in the bottom corner.

      • This is one of the reasons the first thing I do when I get a new computer is install Linux Mint on bare metal: no ads, no spying.

      • It's even more annoying when you share a computer with someone and things like Edge, Office 365, and OneDrive magically reappear on in my account because when they were logged in with their own account this clicked the "Fuck my privacy, use the default install settings" install option for a Microsoft update.

    • ...if *ANYONE* here hasn't turned this feature off as the *FIRST* step of a Windows install....

      Most Windows users don't even know that's possible, much less how to actually do it.

  • We need to put an end to unsolicited ads in Windows with a class action lawsuit against Microsoft. Their business model is not acceptable.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfm3 ( 830843 )
      I put an end to that by installing Linux. I never see ads in Windows anymore.

      • I put an end to that by installing Linux.

        I saw Microsoft being an evil piece of shit back in 1995, and only kept Windows on my computer until 1999 because some of my college classes required it (such as the VB5 class). I had used Linux off and on since 1993, but had to remove it to make room for Windows due to required degree classes.

        After I cleared the MS-only classes out of my degree requirements, and coincidentally lost everything on my hard drive due to a Windows virus at the same time, I reformatted and reinstalled Slackware as my only operat

  • Trashed the windows operating system into spamware, way to go Microsoft annoy more people into abandoning windows hopefully driving them to use Linux as their daily driver
  • Microsoft is the company that will bring the year of the desktop Linux. I switched fully a few months ago and I couldn't be happier

    • I wound up going with a KVM switch, a Windows PC just for gaming, and do all my "real" work either on macOS or Linux. The other use for Windows is that I have a Windows VM that syncs iCloud, OneDrive, and GDrive, which Borg Backup running under WSL2 takes and backs up on a daily basis.

  • No Reason But Jettison Customers (Score:3)

    by BrendaEM ( 871664 ) on Sunday April 14, 2024 @11:10AM (#64393502) Homepage
    We hate our customers! Damn them to hell for their loyalty!
  • I don't understand why Microsoft would shit where they eat. I can't see ads being significant revenue stream for MS, as unlike Google they are not digital advertising company.

  • Exploits (Score:3)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Sunday April 14, 2024 @01:33PM (#64393698)
    I first read the sentence as, "exploiting the idea..". Don't know why I would have ever thought that.

  • I'm told this is just how Windows tells you about important stuff. There's nothing to see here. These aren't ads, PSAs maybe.
    Also, they've changed and they'll never do it again. They really, really love you. Don't go.

  • The worse the Windows user experience for normals (nerds can get around most problems) the better for alternatives.

    • Nerfing the least bad option isn't really a positive. The alternatives getting better would be.

  • Here at Ford, GM, Toyota and Honda, we plan to make you watch a video ad each time before your ignition key works. Our marketing directors thought it would be a brilliant way to screw more bucks out of you peasant consumers. This is why we're paid the big bucks and you're not. We have trophy wives and you don't. We're better than you dumb f****.

    Er, why are our sales dropping?

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